Universal Animation Studios
Universal Animation Studios (formerly Universal Cartoon Studios or Universal Feature Animation or also referred to as Universal Animation) is an American animation studio that is a division of Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Founded in 1987, it specializes in animated productions for feature films, short films, and television series for Universal, and has primarily focused upon the production of television and feature animation of other properties, notably including those direct-to-video sequels to other Universal-released feature films such as The Land Before Time, Paint!, Greenwoods, An American Tail, Balto, and The Adventures of the Housemaid. It is the successor to Walter Lantz Productions, the studio which produced Woody Woodpecker and other Walter Lantz cartoon shorts from 1929 to 1972. Currently, Universal Animation Studios continues to produce films using both traditional animation and computer-generated imagery (CGI). Background The original Walter Lantz Productions cartoon studio was closed down by Universal Studios in 1972 due to the rising costs and declining returns of short subject production. However, before Universal restarted its animation division in 1991, Universal released its first six animated films, such as The Love Tales: A Romeo and Juliet Story ''(1973), ''Paint! ''(1977), ''My Own Pet (1979), The Adventures of the Housemaid, College Life (1982), Greenwoods,'' and An American Tail'' (1986). After the huge success of Greenwoods and An American Tail, Universal moved into feature animation and established its own feature animated department called Universal Feature Animation to produce theatrically released animated feature films. At the time when Universal Feature Animation was founded in 1987, Universal Cartoon Studios opened its doors to produce animated feature films and television series for Universal. In 1988, the studio's first feature film, The Land Before Time (1988). The studios produced an animated television series based on Back to the Future films airing on CBS from 1991 to 1992. From 1989–1997, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment operated Amblimation, a traditional animation studio which was started to compete with Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was experiencing great success at the time with films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The Amblimation studio, however, was not as successful for Universal, but the studio was successful for Paramount. Their first feature An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, a sequel to 1986's An American Tail, made $40 million at the worldwide box office in 1991, but their next feature, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, was a box office bomb, only grossed $9.3 million in the United States in 1993, while their third and final feature Balto ''grossed $11 million worldwide and was overshadowed by the success of the competing Disney/Pixar film ''Toy Story in 1995. Amblimation was shut down in 1997 and some of its staff went on to join Paramount Feature Animation and DreamWorks Animation, respectively. In 2006, the studio Universal Cartoon Studios and Universal Feature Animation to Universal Animation Studios. In September 2012, Universal named former Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider the new president of Universal Animation Studios; however, in January 2013, Schneider resigned for personal reasons. In September 2013, Universal named another former Disney Animation president David Stainton as the president of the studio. In October 2015, Universal named former Cartoon Network president Stuart Snyder as the executive vice president of the studio. On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal announced its intent to acquire competing studio DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making DreamWorks Animation a sister studio to Universal Animation Studios and Illumination Entertainment; the acquisition was later completed on August 22, 2016. On that same day, the television animation divisions of Universal and DreamWorks merged, but Universal Animation Studios was resurrected as a separate entity. Process In a similar manner to JeremyWorks Studios, Sony Pictures Animation, Warner Animation Group, and Paramount Animation, Universal Animation Studios relies on other animation studios and VFX companies to provide the animation on their films. This includes Sullivan Bluth Studios (The Land Before Time), Amblimation (An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, Balto), JeremyWorks Studios (Cartoon World: The Movie franchise, Paint! 2), ClearWorld Entertainment (The Adventures of Blake & Blainley, The Twisted Tales of Classic, The Teen Gang Movie), Project Firefly (Curious George), Framestore Feature Animation (The Tale of Despereaux), Reel FX Creative Studios (Hotel Motel, A Princess Life), Sony Pictures Imageworks (Girl vs. Boy Scouts) Additionally, for some productions such as direct-to-video films, the actual animation production is done overseas, usually by either Wang Film Productions or Rough Draft Studios, while pre-production and post-production is United States-based. Filmography Feature films Released films Upcoming films Films in development Direct-to-video feature films RNot produced, but released by Universal Animation Studios under its label. SCombines live-action with animation. Television specials Short films Television series Miscellaneous work * 63rd Academy Awards (1991) - animation for Woody Woodpecker presenting the award for Best Animated Short Film * Kids WB! promos - Earthworm Jim segments. * The Incredible Hulk Coaster (1999-2015 version) - traditionally animated introduction. * The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (1999) - traditionally-animated introduction. * Dudley-Do Right’s RipSaw Falls (1999) - traditionally-animated queue video. Franchises Accolades Coming soon! Gallery Coming soon! Trivia Comming soon! See also * Illumination Entertainment * DreamWorks Animation * Universal Interactive Studios * Paramount Animation * Sony Pictures Animation * JeremyWorks Studios * Nickelodeon Movies Category:Company